The Potter in the Park
by WritingForDaisies
Summary: B&B working a case and finally acting on some underlying attractions. Some Sweets, some Bren-family stuff, and a lot of B&B fluff. On hiatus for now, sorry!
1. Going to a Fundraiser

"No, Booth, it isn't that simple. I can't just call her. What would I say? 'Hi Aunt Helen, I'm Tempe, the niece you've never met because your sister was a bank-robber who was trying to protect her family by pretending they didn't exist.'" She locked her door behind her, adjusting her coat over her essentially backless dress – the lining of the coat felt chilly against her bare skin.

"Well, I know how you favor the direct approach - you never know, it might work."

"Unlikely, Booth. And I'm not sure I'm ready to meet her anyway - her or the rest of the family I've never known." Russ had sent Brennan an email this morning from his new work with the names and addresses her father had supplied for her mother's side of the family. She only slightly regretted telling Booth of this recent encouragement by the Keenan/Brennan men to contact her aunt and cousins.

"Why not? You had a wonderful Christmas with the family you only recently reconnected with - a few months seems like a 'rational' amount of time to brace yourself for the next step. Plus, with Russ just getting back into the swing of his own life, this is a chance for you to help your family rebuild."

Brennan stopped talking for a few moments to consider this. Booth saw her introspective expression and carefully considered his next words, "I'm not trying to get you to do anything you'd be uncomfortable with. I just want to see you happy, and the events of this part year, while certainly dramatic and even upsetting at times, seem to have made you more content with your life outside of work than I've ever seen you."

"Are you saying that you think I wasn't content before?"

"No, Bones, I'm just saying that while you love your work more than anyone I know, I think maybe you have realized recently that you want more to your life than just professional success – which you also have more of than anyone I know."

Brennan let her lips curl slightly for a small smile at that, and she chose not to address his unspoken challenge. While she may not be the most socially-savvy person in the world, she knew him well enough to tell that he was expecting a retort to his implication that her personal life was less-than-fulfilling. "I'll think about it. Seriously." She looked at Booth out of the corner of her eye, watching him fiddling with what appeared to be an unruly cufflink.

"Thanks for coming to this with me, Booth. I know that you aren't really into the whole fundraising-dinner scene, but Cam told me in no uncertain terms that tonight was mandatory for me, and I didn't feel like going stag to a function where the guest speaker is a former lover of mine."

Booth couldn't suppress his unwitting grimace at the word 'lover'. A simple word, applied to someone she hadn't even seen in over a year and clearly had no lingering feelings for, but it made him. . . uncomfortable when he heard it coming from her mouth. "How do you even know that word?"

She took a moment to figure out what he was referring to. "Stag? Come on, Booth, I'm not that bad. I've gotten pretty adept at 'googling' pop culture references, and I only mix up about half of my idioms these days. Did you know that 'stag' in this context is an acronym standing for 'single tagging along girl'?"

Booth sighed, though not irritatedly. "Bones, your level of analysis over even the most banal subjects is astounding." He couldn't help but chuckle at how reliable her attentiveness was. She didn't do anything half-heartedly. Whether she was working, enjoying a hobby like diving - or martial arts, learning to be more socially aware, or even (and he stifled a laugh at the memory) dancing with him to Foreigner, she threw herself into everything she enjoyed.

"Banal? Looks who's asking about word choice?"

He turned his face to smile at her, a hint of teeth that still carried a few megawatts of charm. "Word-of-the-day toilet paper. Anyway, we were talking about the dinner tonight. So what is _Michael_ going to be talking about again? Anything I might possibly be able to stay awake for?" He wasn't looking forward to seeing Bones' ex, though the fact that he was stuck on a lecture circuit through Northwestern and had never landed the job that he threw Brennan under the bus for gave Booth a warm, victorious feeling inside.

"He's giving a lecture on propensity of foramens in some of the Germanic regions; it relates to the new exhibit that the Jeffersonian is considering curating on genetic commonalities of bone abnormalities between different European regions." She heard Booth groan and she chuckled in response. "I know, but we're going to be at a table with Deputy Director Cullen and his wife, so at least there will be someone you know there."

"What?! You're just telling me this now?! And you think spending the evening sitting next to my boss and his wife is going to make a boring lecture better? Now I'll have to pretend to pay attention!" Booth sputtered and gawked at this newfound twist. "Plus, Cullen is going to want to know why I came with you – and why are they even going to be there?"

Brennan had something of a wicked grin in place as she attempted to answer his flurry of questions. "I only found out today, I didn't tell you earlier because I hadn't spoken to you since we made arrangements for you to pick me up, and I honestly didn't think it would bother you." While he had grinned mischievously himself when he agreed this morning to accompany her tonight (she would have taken Zach for the professional exposure, but astonishingly enough, he had a date with a very attractive young docent), he had grumbled the whole time about it being a fancy 'frou-frou' affair despite the fact that she knew without a doubt he enjoyed black tie events even more than she did.

"You know that Cullen's wife is high up on the board at American University's history department, and they are cooperating with the anthropology department to host the dinner – it makes sense for her to come. And as to why you're coming with me, you're my partner. Why shouldn't you? It isn't like it's a date or anything." As she said it, she felt her brows furrow slightly. It wasn't a date, was it? If Zach had come, it wouldn't have been a date. But she would have met Zach there; he wouldn't have picked her up. And Zach probably wouldn't have swallowed so visibly (or at least she wouldn't have been as aware of it) when he saw her in the black silk boat-neck dress with the plunging back. It seemed appropriate when she chose it earlier, but when she answered the door and Booth mouthed 'wow' under his breath, she thought maybe she had gone too far. She had asked him, though, and he said that it was a perfect choice and that he was just so used to seeing her in scoop neck shirts and chunky necklaces, the simple dress looked amazing. She had blushed at that, but that was just for the compliment, not because it was Booth saying it. She thought.

* * *

Alright, everybody, this was my first EVER fanfic. If you like it, please tell me. I'm a lousy reviewer of my own work, and if I don't get responses that people are interested, I won't submit any more out of fear that the quality is crappy. Just let me know! You review mine, I'll review yours!


	2. Saved by the Body

Brennan shook her head. What even started her thinking about this?

"Yeah, I don't want that." Booth said as he held the door to the Tahoe open for her. She cocked an eyebrow at his gesture. "What, Bones? Your dress seems kinda, um, tight. . ." He cleared his throat and a little color rose to his cheeks. "I wouldn't want you to mess anything up trying to climb into this big car without help, that's all." She shook her head again, but with a pressed-lip smile. Then she thought about what he had said. "What do you mean you 'don't want that'?" she asked, as he took his familiar place behind the wheel. "You wouldn't want to go on a date with me?" She kept her tone playful and light, but she felt like maybe she should be wary of starting this line of questioning. Was this dangerous territory?

"Well, as I recall, the last time we went on a date, you shot me."

Brennan paused, momentarily dumbstruck. They had never been on a date. What was he talking about? Oh! "That wasn't a real date, Booth! I was just saying we could pretend we had been on a date. And not even us, Clark Kent and Wonder Woman. And just to explain why we were so disheveled! And you dropped me on my head!"

Booth chuckled at her defensive response. What even started him talking about this? "I'm just saying, you know Cullen. He is going to be watching us all night. So now I am going to be pretending to listen to a lecture that I don't want to hear, given by a man I don't want to be in the same room with, sitting at a table with a man I don't want to be watched by during my personal time." He realized that he sounded annoyed, which made sense since he was complaining, but at the same time, he wasn't exactly unhappy about the situation. Hell, if the only good point all night was watching the smooth muscles of Bones' back flex as she shrugged on her coat earlier, the evening wasn't a total loss.

Neither had anything specific to say at this point, and they passed a few minutes in their usual pleasant-but-slightly-tense silence. "Well, if you really don't want to go, this is the time to back out. We're here, and. . ." She looked down to reach for her ringing cell phone. Booth's went off at the same time. "Brennan," "Booth," they said into their respective receivers. Their eyes met, both serious to receive news, but maybe just a little relieved. As they each clicked their phones shut, Brennan smiled and Booth practically beamed, "saved by the. . . body."

"Cullen told Cam at the table, so they called us at the same time, not realizing we were together." Brennan said, thinking that the last three words sounded odd. Was that the wrong way to say it? Booth turned to her, and she felt (more than saw) him look her up and down. "Like I said earlier, Bones, you look amazing, but I think that's more of an evening look, and we're going to more of a. . . well, an unpleasant occasion."

"What about you? I mean, I love your 'flashy' ties, but bowties generally aren't your style." He chuckled. She was right. Bowties weren't his thing. He got the purpose of the tie, and the bowtie was thoroughly unsuccessful at it. "Well, I'll stay clear of any mess; it's more that dress that I would be worried about." Why did that make his temperature rise? He was just talking about not wanting her to get her clothes dirty. Why did he care?

She interrupted his jumbled thoughts. "I've got a duffle bag in the back with some jeans and tops – after the last case when my jeans got ripped when I climbed over that fence, I thought it would be a good idea to keep some spare clothes in here."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. You've got some spare, uh, undergarments in there too, not that I was snooping. You shouldn't just put stuff in my vehicle without telling me. I almost called the bomb squad, until I saw the little dolphin on the zipper pull." He remembered finding it, and yes, he snooped gleefully. She laughed and said, "well, you weren't exactly supportive when I ripped my jeans. Something about 'deserving it, working a crime scene in pants that tight,' wasn't it?"

Booth groaned his response. The woman had a memory like an elephant with a grudge. "Yeah, yeah, sorry, Bones, but you did look kind funny with a big rip right at the crease between your leg and your. . . did I mention I really liked the butterfly print? It was classy." What he really remembered was how she refused to stop working in the damn things. She just kept on processing the scene, bending over, squatting down, leaning into the truck to grab a clipboard. All things she really shouldn't do when a few inches of porcelain skin was exposed through a crack right at a _very_ revealing area. He had a hard time swallowing just remembering, and he now put together why he choked on that coffee last week when a butterfly landed on the ledge outside his window.

"Shut up," she said, pushing his arm. "It was laundry day, so it was either those or nothing." Booth tried to hide his gasp with a cough - or one led to the other, whatever. Brennan wondered what she was supposed to have done. She knew that some of the cops at the scene had been unsuccessfully hiding laughter and appreciative remarks, but a hard stare from Booth had quieted even the most blatant of them. Not that his looks hadn't been just as flustering. She hadn't really _needed_ that clipboard, but he was right there, standing against passenger side of the truck, and she hadn't been sure before that if he had even really noticed. When he bumped his shin and cursed as he made a gawky attempt to straighten up and turn around, she knew he had.

When they reached the park, the young agent already there greeted Booth and began to explain the current findings. When Brennan walked over to them, the agent stopped and whistled appreciatively. Booth slapped him on the back of the head. "Be polite!" he gruffed. "Sorry, Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan, you look beautiful, but this is a messy one. . ." he said in a concerned and confused tone, rubbing the back of his head. "I have a change of clothes in the car – is there somewhere I could go?" The agent pointed to the public restrooms and Brennan walked back toward the car to grab the bag. The agent looked over at his own female partner as Dr. Brennan walked away. "Why don't you ever dress like that for me?" he asked with what he seemed to think was an appropriately lascivious grin on his face. She slapped him on the back of the head and stormed away. He looked at Booth, who just shrugged and glanced over his shoulder at Bones disappearing into the bathroom. He grinned and took the case file from the agent.

* * *

Alright, what do you think? Where do you want the story to go? Is there any good character development here? I'm trying to keep things loose, but I was contemplating jumping into some crime-drama here. If you'd like to see that (or something else), let me know and I'd be happy to try some different things out!


	3. Clay in the Lab

* * *

Brennan, of course, had the remains from the park shipped back to the lab for further analysis. Preliminary review at the scene had indicated a female, between twenty and twenty-five, no indications of having had children, cause of death unknown. _Not for long_, Brennan promised to them both. The victim had some arthritic lipping in her thoracic curvature and lateral effacement of her patella. Combined with what her visual inspection indicated to be spattered clay on the remains of the victim's pants, Brennan suspected that the woman worked in ceramics either as a profession or as a hobby. After reaching this conclusion, he realized she had just speculated about a somewhat irrelevant factor – while proud of what she thought was a well-reasoned analysis, she chided herself for letting Booth's habits infect her own approach to her work.

Poke. Poke. Poke poke poke poke. "Booth, the more you do that, the more distracted I am, and the longer it takes for me to finish. You're welcome to go get something to eat yourself, but I am not leaving until I get reports back from Zach and Hodgins." Booth, discontent with the lack of attention he was getting after what seemed like hours of Bones staring at the body and his reading and re-reading the initiating agent's report on the scene, had begun poking Bones' shoulder to get her to stop working long enough for them to grab some food.

Thankfully for Brennan, Hodgins interrupted; "Well, the materials on the pants are definitely hydrous aluminium phyllosilicate minerals."

"Wow," said Booth, with mock enthusiasm. "That was completely meaningless to me." Exasperated as usual, he just stared down the excessively curly-haired squint. "Have we even met?"

"Clay." Hodgins responded with wide eyes – he knew, well, he hoped, Booth liked him, but that didn't change the fact that the man could be damned intimidating. "More specifically, clay commonly used in the making of ceramics. I have to do some more testing before I can narrow down the region for the additional materials in the clay." Brennan nodded at him and he continued, looking back at Booth. "Dude, you know it was hard for me to just jump into that without giving more details. I need some acknowledgement for trying."

Brennan smiled and resumed looking at the body. Booth stuck his hands in his pockets and jutted his chin at Hodgins, who took it as a sign of respect and turned to leave the platform just as Zach was climbing up.

Zach approached the table where Brennan was inspecting the arms of the victim. "Zach, there appear to be deep cuts on the anterior surfaces of each ulna. Do these seem consistent with self-inflicted wounds to you?" She looked up to where Zach was standing, a few feet away. He was dressed in a tuxedo, quite as meticulously groomed as Booth had been earlier tonight. _But come on, the grooming isn't what makes Booth look good._ _Where had that thought come from? Inappropriate, Tempe!_

"Wow, Zach, I know we're encouraging a slightly more formal carriage these days, but this might be a bit much. Not that you don't look nice – was Abby impressed?" Angela trotted up the stairs to stand next to Hodgins, who also seemed to be giving Zach a look of approval.

Zach grinned sheepishly. "She was more impressed that we were able to sit at a table at a 'fancy museum function' with a deputy director of the FBI and the Jeffersonian's head of forensics." Looking back at Dr. Brennan, he explained. "When you and Agent Booth were unable to attend this evening, Cam called me knowing that I was taking Abby to a nice dinner and would already be dressed for the occasion. I believe Abby may have been somewhat bored by the discussion, because I think at one point she might have fallen asleep. I found Dr. Stires' presentation to be somewhat stilted, as if he were trying to sell us on the information rather than convey his actual findings, but his analysis of bone abnormalities and their occurence propensities relative to specific geographic regions seemed comprehensive."

Booth perked up at what he thought might have been a slight to _Michael_ in Zach's comment, and then got lost in Zach-speak again. "Dr. Stires approached me after the dinner, recognizing me from the refridgerator case," Zach turned to Angela, "another thing that Abby was impressed with," he turned back to Brennan, "and he asked how about you." Booth felt his hands ball into fists involuntarily, but relaxed when he saw the bump in Bones' temple that indicated she was clenching her teeth. "What did you say?" Brennan asked, trying to keep her tone non-confrontational, knowing that Zach wouldn't understand. "I didn't respond. I just walked away. It isn't his business – was that an inappropriate reaction?" Zach looked concerned. Booth smiled at him and reached out to pat his shoulder, pulling back at the last moment when he saw the Zach's expression progress to expectant jubilation. "Let's go, Bones."

"Alright, Booth, fine. Zach, inspect those injuries on the victim's forearms and see if there is anything you can tell me about the damage to her patella and thorasic curvature – I think it relates to a repetitive motion, possibly from a potter's wheel. Check the tarsus for injury as well." She walked with Booth over to her office to shrug her lab coat and grab her purse. She was thinking about how Michael had asked about her. She was both surprised and glad that Zach reacted the way he did; he usually wasn't good at social situations, strike that, he was _awful_ at social situations, but she liked this kind of awful.

She had seen the way that Booth had essentially praised Zach for his snubbing of Michael at the dinner and couldn't help but feel a little bit grateful to him for that – he wasn't teasing her about how Michael was a bad choice or anything like that, he was just being. . . protective, which wasn't such a bad thing so long as she agreed with how he directed (and acted upon) those feelings. "So, Bones, where do you wanna go to dinner? I feel like we should go somewhere nice, since we didn't get to eat off the fundraiser's gold plates." He stood at the edge of her desk, waiting for her to pull her cell phone from the pocket of her lab coat and drop it in her purse. He heard her walk back toward him and then heard her phone clatter to the ground.

It happened fast. He turned his head to look at her, just as she went up on her toes to kiss his cheek. Their combined movements had the effect of landing her originally innocent kiss squarely on his lips. He was caught off-guard for a moment – less than a second. Then he parted his lips. Just slightly, but intentionally; he moved gently, pressing his mouth back against hers, tugging softly at her lower lip with both of his as he pulled away. He wanted her to know that he kissed her back, but he didn't want to make it more intense than he felt like they could handle just then. Now a joke, to ease any tension his response might have created.

"You know, Bones, you keep kissing me like this, and I'm going to start to get the wrong idea about us." _Light, Seel, keep it light. She didn't notice how your eyes widened when you felt her lips on your hand. She didn't see the way your mouth moved when hers was on your cheek. And you were both flustered by your own reactions under the mistletoe. No need to give away more than you need to, here._ He reacted to her stunned expression by giving her a smile that he hoped seemed a little less charming and a little more intimate than his. . . public smile, picked up her phone and handed it to her, and headed out the door before she could respond, intending to take her to their favorite Thai restaurant.

* * *

Too fast? I like to take things slow, but fanfic gives me more liberty than the actual writers get, and I think most of us are a little tired of waiting... Too much with the (attempted) science lingo? Want me to turn it all over to a crazy M-fest? (Not going to happen, but tell me your thoughts and we'll see where this goes!)


	4. Discussion at a Restaurant

_Nice job, Seel_. As he left Bones' office, Booth was in the middle of congratulating himself on his smooth reaction to the situation that just occurred. Then it hit him. He had just kissed Bones. No way to play it off, no one blackmailing anyone, no way to pretend he didn't know what had just happened – he had taken an innocent gesture by her and turned it into something that could have a _serious_ impact on their partnership. His pulse, which was just resuming its normal cadence, started pounding again. He had just kissed Bones. In her office. Not as a friend, or as a collegue, or even as (what was it she said?) a couple of French people meeting on the street. _Shut up, Seel. You don't know how she took it – just act like nothing happened and see if she says anything._

_Did that just happen?_ Brennan was somewhat stunned as she left her office to follow Booth, who was already nearing the lab's exit. "Hey, Dr. Brennan! The computer just printed the results of the tests on the additional materials in the clay and its likely origins, and I believe the clay came from the Pendingham Potteries, over near Mt. Olivet." Hodgins said, bringing her mind back to the case. "I think I know where that is. I'll let Booth know and we can follow up on it tomorrow." Brennan jogged out to catch up with Booth.

_What should I do? _Brennan tried to assess the situation. That definitely wasn't what she had intended – she had just wanted to express her appreciation to Booth for. . . what? Seeming possessive? She wasn't even sure that's what he had been doing. But he had undeniably kissed her back; or really, he had been the one to kiss her, since it was an accident that her lips had touched his. _Wasn't it? Snap away from it, Tempe. You probably just read things wrong and he was just trying to make light of what turned into an awkward situation. Just act like nothing happened and see if he says anything._

"Hodgins found out where the clay was from, and I think that the presence of the clay on her clothes, combined with her injuries, indicates that she worked or had a hobby as a potter." "Sounds reasonable to me," Booth responded nonchalantly. He wasn't going to point out that her conclusion was a leap, because it was a good one, and he liked the fact that she was getting more comfortable with that sort of thing. "The Thai place is open late tonight. Sound okay to you?" She smiled. "Sounds perfect."

"So, Bones, does all of this mean that I am about to learn about yet _another_ skillful pastime you enjoy?" They had gotten on the topic of pottery and ceramics in the car on the way to the restaurant, a subject that Brennan was, of course, thoroughly versed in. The woman had more hobbies than Booth had ties. Which Booth found impressive not just because she was able to maintain interest in and knowledge of and proficiency with so many different activities, but also because he had an entire wall of his closet devoted to his ties. The man was serious with this sort of thing. "No, Booth, I don't think I have the talent for pottery. I could probably shape functional pieces, but I think there is a very artistic element to it. Plus. . ." Brennan dropped her eyes to her pad thai, but had no control over the blush that colored her cheeks. "Plus what?" Booth asked with a roguish grin.

"You're going to laugh at me. And the last time I said that, you did, so no." Brennan really liked that this restaurant put bok choy in the pad thai – more nutritious, but still very well within her vegetarian diet. She told Booth so. "Don't try to change the subject. I promise I won't laugh, unless you tell me that you are afraid of a blob of clay attacking you or something ridiculous like that." "What if it was a clown-shaped blob of clay, would that be a ridiculous thing to be afraid of?" Brennan couldn't contain her rather unladylike snort at her own joke. Booth gave her a glare that was rendered ineffective by the twinkle in his eye. "Okay, okay. It's just that, well, I kind of associate molding clay with. . ." She paused again.

"What?" Booth asked, thoroughly in the dark as to where she was going. Brennan sighed, "come on, Booth, haven't you ever seen 'Ghost'?"

"Bones, did you just refer to a recent movie?" Booth hadn't yet taken the time to get where Brennan was headed, taken aback as he was by her reference of pop culture.

"Recent? It came out in 1990! I was 14, and it was my first date. Ever. I told my parents that Mitchell Thomas and I were going to go see some movie about crime-fighting turtles or something, and we went to that one instead. I had my first kiss to the pottery scene and 'Unchained Melody'."

"Wow, Bones, you lied to your parents? To be with a boy? Very rebellious." Granted, he didn't even think it was an R rated movie, and she probably confessed the moment she got home, but still, he liked the idea of a somewhat less restrained Bones sneaking into a movie theater to make out. He specifically willed himself not to think _with me_, and, as a result, failed miserably. "It's a good memory, except that Russ had followed me there with his girlfriend, and when Mitch kissed me, Russ threw a bucket of popcorn at the back of his head." She laughed easily at the memory. "Seriously, Bones, that's sweet." Booth didn't laugh – he did think it was sweet, though thinking back, that was actually a pretty hot scene. Instead of picturing the actors, though, when he thought about wet hands on clay and hot hands on flesh, he couldn't help but picture the face across from him. _Come on, man. Simmer down. She's only talking about this because it relates, in her mind, to a case._

"I've seen the movie a couple of times since then, and the scene is actually very arousing." Booth had to cough a few times when his mouthful of glass noodles went down the wrong pipe. "What, Booth? It is! Now, whenever I think of a wet clay body on a potter's wheel, I can't help but see that scene and think of the sensuality of it – the way their hands slipped. . ." "Yeah, Bones, I get it." Booth interjected, trying to regain control over the conversation. _She cannot possibly realize the effect hearing those words come out of her mouth has on me. Good God, the woman is cruel sometimes._ And of course, now he was thinking back to earlier, and how he wished he had 'slipped' his tongue. . .

"Sorry, I made you uncomfortable, didn't I?" Brennan interrupted his thoughts. _I wish I could control that better - I'd rather what I said turned him on than made him uncomfortable. _She mentally shook herself. _Enough with that! He accidentally kisses you for a second and you can't keep your mind on the matter at hand? Unprofessional, Tempe. Like he said, you're the one who has been throwing yourself at him, even if it hasn't been entirely intentional. Maybe it is time to take a step back and behave like a decent partner again_. Booth saw that she was probably overthinking their recent exchange. "No, I just understand what you meant." _Alright, two can play at this game - let's see how she responds to a little more personal information on the subject of what makes for an 'arousing' scene._

* * *

Thanks so much for all the encouraging reviews so far! (Shadow12, please excuse my theft of your expressive "unladylike snort," it just fit the scene!) I'm not as satisfied with this chapter, but I think I have an idea of where I want the story to go now; full-on mystery with some unmitigated B&B romance that the show keeps us in suspense of. (We can take it, we swear!) Hopefully I can keep you guessing and interested until the end. I'm happy when you're happy, so let me know if you have critiques or suggestions or if you like it as it is; I appreciate it all!


	5. Kiss in the Car

_Damn._ Booth looked at his phone to see who was disrupting their moment. _Cam. Naturally._ "Hey Camille, what's up?" He registered mild annoyance in her voice. "Hey _Seeley_, do you know where Dr. Brennan is? I have some information on last week's case for her, but I tried to call her and her phone went straight to voicemail." "Oh, yeah, she's right here – she dropped her phone earlier, maybe it got turned off in the process."

Booth couldn't help but grit his teeth as he watched Bones wipe the corner of her mouth and lick the sauce from her finger. _Seeing as my last serious relationship was with the woman on the other end of that phone, Bones should consider herself lucky that I don't just pounce on her right here at the table._ With a wicked grin, he let his self-assurance get the better of him and changed that to "unlucky" in his mind.

"Brennan." She put her hand over the receiver and flashed him an accusatory smile. "What?!" She turned her attention back to the phone. "Good evening Dr. Brennan. You aren't still here at the lab, are you? I just called, assuming you had gone home for the evening." If she could read people better, Brennan would have recognized Cam's tone as feigned nonchalance. "No, Booth and I just ran out for a bite to eat. There wasn't much tissue left on our most recent body, I'm surprised you were able to get anything useful."

"I wasn't – this is about last week's case, but I can just as easily give you the information tomorrow. It's too bad you weren't able to make it to the dinner tonight – Deputy Director Cullen seemed specifically disappointed when he learned from Zach that Booth almost attended. I think he wished Booth was there so that they could play sugar-packet football or discuss fantasizing about blowing the place up."

"What is sugar-packet football?" Brennan asked, laughing at the image of Booth and Cullen running around the crowded banquet hall cradling tiny packets of sugar like footballs. Across the table, Booth grinned widely at her question, and gestured for her to hold the phone with her cheek. "Nevermind." Cam laughed too, though more at Brennan's confusion than at her own joke. Booth proceeded to put his thumbs together with his palms facing Brennan and his elbows on the table. When she mimicked his action, he picked up a sugar packet and flicked it through the makeshift uprights. He shot his arms up in the air and mouthed "Goal!"

Brennan laughed again; "Booth just demonstrated. Better than what I was picturing, but still probably inappropriate for a formal function. I'll be in early tomorrow to go over those findings and let you know what we've discovered so far as to today's body." "Sounds good." She handed the phone back to Booth, who was covering the check. "Hey, you paid the last three times in a row. I'm the super-successful writer. If there is going to be a disparity here, I should be the one paying more often." She replaced his credit card with her own, and while his provider instinct wanted to impress, his government salary wanted to pay his cable bill.

"After you drop me off at the lab, are you going to go run a missing persons check?" Brennan's mind was already revisiting the case and thinking about what the next line of attack should be. "What? You want to do more work? Come on, Bones, it's almost half past eleven. What do you say I just take you home and we both go to bed?" Brennan's eyes shot up to his, confused. _What did he say? Something about taking me to bed? _

"Yeah, Bones. Remember, I picked you up this evening. Your car is still at your place, so I have to drop you off before I go home. Not that I mind." "Oh, yeah, of course. That's fine. We've had a long day." _Way to misread again, Tempe. You've got to get your mind off of that stupid kiss. You weren't even this distracted after Caroline's little setup._

The ride back to Brennan's apartment was quiet and relaxed, but as they pulled up to her building, Brennan couldn't play dumb any longer. "Booth, I just wanted to say, about earlier, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I know you shrugged it off, but I was just trying to express my gratitude with the way you responded to Zach in the lab. You know I was nervous about the whole Michael thing and you know how much I like it when you let Zach know that he did a good job, especially since that means so much to him, coming from you." She realized she had rambled a bit, but she thought she had gotten her point across. She unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door.

Booth swallowed. Hard. _How should I play this? Here's an inventive one, Seel: how about the truth? If she doesn't react like you hope, you can just blow it off like a joke again._ Deep breath. "I didn't mind. I mean, I know you didn't actually mean to _kiss me_ kiss me, but I think I'm getting used to it. Maybe even starting to like it." He winked at her, to still keep things playful. "Oh, ha, ha, Booth. I just don't want to, you know, cross any of those ever-present lines. You'll tell me if I do?" _Not that I'm going to do anything again – I mean, so far, I've been the only one reaching out._ "Yeah, that sounds good to me. You stop kissing me the minute I tell you that you've gone too far." _Not that I _ever_ will._ "And until then. . ." He leaned over quickly, brushed a lock of her hair back with his thumb, and pressed his lips gently against her cheek. "I wouldn't want you to feel like you were the only one testing the flexibility of those lines," he said softly.

Brennan didn't remember climbing out of the car, watching Booth drive away, or even finding her way into her apartment. The only thing on her mind for a while was the feel of Booth's lips on her cheek.

Cullen walked into Booth's office bright and early the next morning, as Booth was grabbing his coat to meet Bones to follow up on Hodgins' lead.

"So I hear we missed you last night, Agent Booth."

"What, sir?"

"Dr. Addy indicated that before you both got called away, you had agreed to be Dr. Brennan's _date_ to the bone lecture last night. He seemed to believe that yours was a standing arrangement."

"Oh, no, sir – she asked me at the last minute, it wasn't a date, she just didn't want to go to that dinner alone and I had finished my last assignment. . ." Booth felt that this needed to be clarified; he didn't want Cullen under the wrong impression. Or the right one. That could be bad for business, personal and professional alike.

"That Dr. Whatever guy used to be involved with Dr. Brennan, right?" Booth nodded slightly, wondering why Cullen cared. "Well then, it's too bad you didn't come – you might have livened the night up a bit by finding a reason to kick the guy's ass at some point. . ." Cullen barked a single laugh at Booth's shocked expression and thumped him on the back as he strode away, shaking his head.

Booth looked after him, mouth open, wondering just what Cullen knew and what exactly that exchange was supposed to mean. As he dazedly started to walk back into his office, he saw Bones walking toward him, nodding politely at Cullen as they passed each other in the hall. Booth turned on his heel and walked out to join her. "Morning, Bones. Ready to head out to the kiln to interview some people who make pots?"

"Pottery, Booth. It's a common mistake. The kiln is just the oven – the pottery is where they make the pieces. And the person is called a Potter."

"Thanks for the clarification, Bones. I'm sure it will be very important for me to know the technical terms." He gave her another of what he was starting to think of as his private smiles, unsurprised that the little. . . incident_s_ last night hadn't affected the way she acted toward him.

* * *

Alright, so I'm caught up in the romance. The next chapter will be more mystery, unless people want even more progression in the romance department. . . I probably won't post for a few days – going out of town for a bit. If you still like the story, let me know, and I'll make sure to make the next chapter longer to make it up to you!


	6. Plot at the Pottery

When Brennan jumped ahead, as usual, to press the button for the elevator, Booth decided to pick on her for a bit. It was, after all, an integral part of his day. "So, you think you'll be able to control yourself when we get to the pottery? If you need a moment later to compose yourself, I'll understand." He gave her a wink, trying gingerly to pick back up the mood from previous evening.

"Thank you Booth, but I should be fine, so long as they don't start playing any Righteous Brothers songs. Did you get any hits on missing women in the area for the past three years with any reference to pottery or ceramics?" Booth regretfully switched gears, knowing that she was in work-mode now and so should he be. "Nothing. Did you determine the age of those injuries on her arms? Were they around the time of her death or before?"

"I didn't think I had mentioned those to you yet." Brennan realized she hadn't yet given him the report with the lab's findings and handed it over as she climbed into the SUV. Booth smirked. "Don't you know by now that I am an unstoppable investigative force? I know about everything that goes on in that pretty little head of yours. Not that I understand half of it, but just the same. . ."

Brennan couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks at the joke. _God, that would be embarrassing. Might make things progress a little easier, though._ Frustration flared inside her. _Not twenty minutes talking to him, Tempe, and already your mind is back on that path! You've got to get a hold of your thoughts. Perhaps this weekend might be a good time to give an old "partner" a call, resolve what appears to be a mental fixation on sexual issues._ At that thought and in her current literal manner of thinking, she finally understood the looks that she and Booth got at times when they referred to themselves as partners as a response to someone inquiring about their relationship. This realization only deepened her blush and her determination to get a handle on her seemingly out-of-control emotions.

"It was just a joke, Bones. I heard you tell Zach to inspect the cuts last night when we were getting ready to leave the lab." When he saw her cheeks begin to redden, he immediately grinned inwardly. _What? What would I learn if I could read your thoughts? Anything tantalizing about me roaming around in there? You wish, Seeley boy. Though she'd certainly get an eyeful if she had that ability._ While yesterday's somewhat less-veiled exchanges had encouraged him, they also made it harder and harder for him to stay focused around Bones. He was glad when she jumped back to the issues of the case, if only to distract himself from what was about to be an unstoppable but extremely awkward fantasy with Bones sitting right next to him in the car.

"They are old injuries – Zach thinks they might have resulted from a fall where she tried to catch herself and slid along a sharp object, with her own weight increasing the severity of the injury to the point where it marked the bone." Booth winced at the thought. He had broken an arm when he was young; falling from high up in a tree he was climbing with his brother and landing awkwardly on top of his arm. The bone stuck out, which was "cool" in terms of a tough-guy story to tell his friends, but seeing the dull white spike sticking out of a shiny pool of blood on his arm was definitely not a pleasant childhood memory. He didn't want to imagine the kind of injury that Bones described, even though unfortunately it wasn't the worst to happen to this girl. The thought sobered him and he came back out of yet another reverie. "Cam is running a tox screen on the little tissue is left, because from what we can tell at this point, we still don't know the cause of death."

"Well, hopefully someone here will know something that will help us," Booth gave Bones a reassuring smile as they walked toward a man who was breaking up pieces of hardened clay on a cement slab, "I mean, we haven't failed yet, have we?" Brennan looked over and grinned herself. "Mr. Edward Branson?" Booth flashed his ID and the man put down his sledge hammer.

He was probably mid-to-late-forties, with sandy brown hair only slightly speckled with grey. Brennan assumed that the constant physical work he did here was probably at least partially accountable for his very fit physique. He was working in a tank top that showed he had impressive definition in his upper body, and he pulled a button-up shirt on as he responded to the newcomers' presence. "Yep, that's me, but everybody just calls me Eddie."

"Special Agent Seeley Booth, and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan. We're looking into the possibility of an unreported missing person that might be associated with your business here." Eddie beckoned them toward the shed. "Please come inside, but I don't think you have the right place. It's pretty much just me, my wife, and my sons out here. I wouldn't hesitate to let someone know if one of them was missing." Booth and Brennan settled themselves in folding chairs in front of a desk covered with a heap of greenware pots. "Don't get many people in here, sorry about the mess. Now what's this you say about a missing person?"

"She's a young woman, about 20-25 years old. All we can really tell you about her at this point is that she seems to have been injured about five years ago in a fall where she cut her arms, and she has been missing at least three years." Brennan knew not to reveal anything else at this point – if Booth felt the time was right to let on that they had in fact found her body, she would tell more. Booth looked over and gave her a tiny smile that showed support for her discretion.

"Like cuts here?" Eddie bent his elbow and patted the bottom of his forearm. "Both arms?" "Yes," Brennan responded quickly. "Well, Jeanna had cuts like that from the accident back in '02. But she's not missing, she moved back to Alberta to work for as a press manager for a climbing club up there. What's this about, anyway? What brought you here to look for this missing girl?"

Brennan looked over at Booth, who responded for them, "Well, we found the remains of the woman that we are referring to last week. She has apparently been dead for about three years. There was clay on the remnants of her pants that we matched with the clay you use here."

Eddie simply shook his head. "Well, there weren't been any other young women around here in that time frame, but that can't be Jeanna. She moved back to Canada. She and my boy Bill were together for a few years, but they took a trip up north to go ice climbing about six years back and there was an accident. They were in a running belay, and Bill slipped and Jeanna fell. Jeanna hurt her arms pretty bad and Bill, well. . . Bill felt like she blamed it on him and he thought that she was the one who was irresponsible, taking him ice climbing on a waterfall that he wasn't experienced enough for. They split up after that and Bill said she moved back to Canada a couple of years later."

"Do you have a picture of her? And any more information you can give us – so far this is the best lead we have, but if we have more information we might be able to exclude her as the victim. We'd also like to speak to your son, Bill." Brennan knew that the look in Booth's eye meant that he thought the information would confirm the identity, not reject it. From Eddie's description of how the girl's injuries occurred, she thought there was a good chance his gut might be right, but she would never tell him that. "Bill's on a sales trip out in Ohio, but he'll be back next week. If you have a card, I'll make sure he calls you as soon as he gets back, and I've actually got a picture here, in the other office." He left them to retrieve it.

"So: the boyfriend killed her in a fight and then hid the body somewhere here, telling everyone she moved back home. I just don't know why he moved the body to the park. What'd ya think, Bones?" Brennan looked offended at his suggestion. "Woah, Booth, that's a huge leap. We aren't even sure that this is the woman whose remains we found. We also don't know for sure that it's a homicide, and we are nowhere near trying to figure out who the potential murderer actually is. First things first: we get the picture, take it back to the lab, and compare it to whatever facial reconstruction Angela was able to do."

Secretly, she wouldn't be surprised if everything Booth said was true, but this whole positing-a-scenario thing was still uncomfortable to her. "Okay, Bones, we'll take the'rational' approach," he said, making sure to overdramatize the air quotes he used on the word 'rational', "but I'm pretty confident I'm right." Brennan rolled her eyes, "You always are." Eddie stepped back in, holding a picture. "That's Jeanna there, with my Bill. This was taken right before they left for that trip. I wrote her full name and an old address on the back, in case any of that helps."

They had said their goodbyes and were headed back to the lab. When they turned a few minutes early, Brennan raised her eyebrows and put on a fake tone of being put-upon, "how do you know I didn't have lunch plans?" Booth didn't even flinch. "Because it's Tuesday. We always have lunch together at the diner at noon on Tuesday, even when we don't have a case. We've been doing it for months now."

Brennan realized he was right. "I honestly hadn't even noticed. Isn't that odd? Come to think of it, Angela and I were working on that crime scene simulation all morning last Tuesday and she asked me to lunch but I said no, that I was meeting you. But looking back, we hadn't even spoken about it." Booth's smile lit up his side of the car, though he faced out his window for a moment so that Bones couldn't quite see. "I remember that because Angela grinned hugely, kissed me on the cheek, and said that if that was the case, she wasn't going to be left out of the lunchtime fun and wasgoing to go find Hodgins and grab a nooner herself. Which I still don't understand because it was only eleven at the time."

_A nooner?_ Angela was incorrigible, and apparently stuck in the seventies. Booth tried to hide his laugh in a cough - with all of that he had been doing the past few days, she was going to worry that he was getting sick. "I'm not going to explain that to you. But you know Angela. She just likes it when we spend time together alone. Then again, so do I." He tensed at having said that, worried that it came out stronger than he had intended. "Sure Booth, I do too. Some of my favorite parts of the day are when it's just you and I, like this. Or when we're putting together our notes or reviewing the case late at night. We're probably less efficient than we could be, since we spend so much time joking around, but I like those moments." Booth's smile faded a little. He liked those moments too, he just might like them to be a little less focused on work and a little more on just doing fun things together. His voice got quiet but he said with a smile, "Absolutely, Bones, that's the good stuff."

* * *

Sorry for the delay, but this one's a good bit longer. Lots more plot exposition and I tried to balance a good bit of the B&B fluff in.I think I enjoy my own writing far more than is reasonable, but hopefully some of you guys like it too! Please review to let me know if you think it's any good, or if you have things you want to see... I was going to make this one entirely mystery plot, but since Fanfic21 and Boreanazlover82 seemed to like the romance, I got some of that in there too. I also made a couple of changes from the first post to make this more romantic and less raunchy. :) Hope you guys continue to enjoy!


	7. Actions in the Office

Lunch passed without incident, except that Vera brought out two pieces of pie instead of one since Brennan had surprisingly convinced Booth to eat a salad for lunch and Vera thought he deserved some sort of consolation prize. When Booth dropped her off at the lab to run over to the Hoover building, Brennan found Angela's sketch on her desk.

_Well, at least we know your name now._ Angela's sketch was an undeniable match for the girl Eddie identified as Jeanna Robinson in the picture Brennan placed in a file. As she sat at her desk to check her emails for the report document she expected Zach to have sent her by now, she spotted the email from Russ from this morning. Feeling a bit confident from the quick progress she and Booth were making on this case, Brennan decided to ride that wave and send a quick email to her aunt. It was less emotionally draining than a phone call might be, and she knew she was very good at articulating points on paper.

_Good afternoon Ms. Jacobs,_

She deleted the line. She didn't want to be quite as formal as she was with her accountant. She thought about the advice Booth would give her. _He'd tell me to be myself. To relax and just tell her who I was and why I was contacting. Be honest but not to too blunt. What was that phrase? Rebuilding my family? But what if they don't want to be my family? What if she never responds? No. I'm not going to accept defeat before I've even started. Just let her know that if she is interested, I would like to meet her. But if not, I understand, and I do._ She typed quickly, mentioning her birth name and that she had her mother's ring, and she hit the 'Send' button before she could talk herself out of it. She pushed herself away from her computer and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

When Angela walked in, Brennan was still staring at the 'Message Sent' screen, apparently lost in thought.

"Bren? Whatcha doing?"

Brennan started slightly and blinked as she looked up at her friend. "Hey, Ange. I just sent a message to my aunt, telling her I'd like to meet her if she is interested. Russ sent me her contact information and I thought I'd give it a shot." She seemed to turn inward again for a moment, lips turning downward slightly. "I don't know how I feel about the idea of meeting her, but Booth seemed to think that it might be good for me to reconnect with more of my family." She focused again on her friend and smiled. "But you know, I think I'm pretty happy with the family I have here."

Angela grinned widely at that, her eyes sparkling from the joy it gave her to hear her friend say that. Not because she was surprised that Brennan thought it, but because it meant so much for her to say it aloud. "Sweetie, I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Your aunt would be crazy to turn down the chance to have you in her life. How'd Russ get her contact info, by the way? And how is he doing now that's he's back out?"

Brennan hadn't thought about Russ's sources; she hoped that this wasn't something else he was hiding, and she didn't think that was the case anyway. "He's doing well – he got a good job with a nonprofit organization that fixes up donated cars and gives them to needy people. The DC diocese does a lot of work with them, so with the recommendation from Archbishop Wallace, he was pretty much a shoe-in. I'm not sure how he got the contact information for my – our – aunt, though. Maybe my dad got it to him somehow."

"Hmm. I guess with Booth's involvement in finding your family, I expected him to haul her in here himself. Where is the hunk-o'-law-enforcement, anyway?"

"Right behind you," Booth said from Brennan's doorway, walking past Angela, who walked back toward the door. "You know, Angela, you ought to be careful talking like that. Hodgins might get jealous, and I'll be honest, that crazy squint concerns me more than the rest of you combined." Brennan took the file from her desk and walked around to face Booth. "Oh, Booth, you know I'll always lust after you," Angela sighed, "just another unrequited crush." She made an overdramatically sad face, looking from Booth to Brennan like she was heartbroken.

Booth laughed and looked over at Brennan, who gave him a small smile in return. He had a quick flashback. _Oh, you wouldn't dare, Seel. Or would you?_ "Bones, you know the last time we were standing like this with someone watching us from the doorway, there were steamboats and mistletoe involved. . ." He smirked at her, fully anticipating the wide-eyed look she returned, but not the scoff he heard from the doorway. He looked back in Angela's direction with raised eyebrows, catching her rolling her eyes. "That's low, Booth, trying to tempt me with my true heart's desire." Angela's voice had laughter in it, which turned a bit strangled when she noticed the blush on her best friend's face. She looked back and forth between them, disbelieving, but the self-satisfied expression on Booth's face sealed the deal. She broke out of her daze with a much higher-pitched gasp. "You kissed?! And I didn't get to see it?!" She took a step forward and pointed at Brennan. "And you didn't even tell me?!" She just stood there with her mouth open as Brennan's mind raced, preparing to explain that it wasn't intentional, and she didn't even remember it, and she wasn't even involved, and she wasn't even there that day.

Booth looked over at the still-silent and clearly stunned Brennan. "You know, Bones, I don't think she really believes that we did it. Maybe we should give an encore?" He moved slightly closer, looking down at her with that grin still plastered on his face. Brennan's look of surprise turned to laughing skepticism. "You wouldn't dare," she said, imitating the silent voice of excessive caution in his brain. The smile on his face was now big enough that she couldn't help but look at his mouth. _Just go for it, man._ That voice of caution apparently knew when it was beat. He felt himself hold his breath, and he bent down, pressing his lips to hers.

She stiffened, a lot from shock and a little from fear. Remembering how she had taken it further by grabbing his jacket last time, he moved even closer to her, placing his hands on the sides of her jaw with his fingertips brushing the back of her neck. Brennan's shock was quickly turning to warmth, her fear to something she tried not to acknowledge as desire. She felt herself involuntarily relax into his hands and she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing him to her. As she timidly opened her mouth to his, he lost count of the steamboats and just gave in to the moment.

They were both too distracted to notice as Angela quietly fainted in the doorway.

* * *

Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since I've posted? Sorry about that. Hope you like the chapter - I've fallen into the romance trap! It's just more fun to write! I think I was kinda discouraged too, since I'm not really getting alot of reviews. Think you know why? Tell me! Think I should give up this story and not quit my day job? Tell me! Think I'm the most amazing writer ever to grace the internet? Stop it, I'm blushing. Eh, who am I kidding, tell me anyway! :)


	8. Recovery and an Escape

A few moments later, or maybe it was a few hours, or even several bright sunny days, their lips broke apart. Booth's arms were now around Brennan's waist, and hers were locked around his neck. Their eyes met and neither could help but smile. As she remembered that Angela was in the room, Brennan began to pull away and look toward the door.

"Angela, are you okay?" Booth asked, straightening his tie and looking at Angela, who was seated on the floor in the doorway.

"Uh, I, um. . ." Angela put a hand to her forehead with her mouth somewhere between an 'o' of surprise and a cheek-stretching smile.

"Vasovagal, or situational, syncope," Brennan said, taking a step forward. She unnecessarily smoothed her outfit and cleared her throat, turning fully toward Angela, who was now making her way to her feet. "It's usually a result of an adrenergic outflow of blood from the brain, combined with an insufficient blood volume, often a result of inadequate sodium consumption. There are some olives in the lounge refrigerator. You should go have a few." Brennan was speaking quickly, still seemingly rattled from the event of moments before. "Are you alright?" she asked of a now-frowning but fully upright Angela.

Angela looked at her friend, then at Booth. She looked back at Brennan, opened and closed her mouth a few times, and simply walked away.

The partners remained awkwardly in their positions for a moment, and then Brennan turned back to Booth. "That was. . ." she started, looking him square in the eye with a concentrated frown on her face. "Amazing?" he offered quietly, smiling slightly and taking a step toward her. She seemed to square her shoulders, and while her mouth remained fixed, he saw her eyes crinkle with what he suspected was a hidden smile. "Wildly out of line - just so you know. This is a professional environment, and to do something like that in front of Angela is the opposite of professional."

He wasn't about to let her off so easy. "But when Caroline made us do it, that was fully acceptable – why? Because her naughty tendencies lend her some authority over your at-work behavior?" He was back to the full-on charm smile, reveling in the fact that this was not the worst-case response he had tried to quickly prepare himself for. In fact, it was on the better end of the scale. _If all she's upset about is the location and the audience, that can be resolved quickly enough. That _was_ amazing. The most amazing kiss I remember having. She smells so good up close, like magnolias and clean soap. And her lips aren't just soft, they're. . ._

Brennan interrupted his thoughts, as she was wont to do. "That was a completely different situation and you know it. I needed something, and forcing you into a somewhat compromising position provided me with an opportunity to get what I needed. It was the rational choice." She silently wondered which one of them she was trying to convince. "And right now, we've got work to do." She smoothed her shirt again, which was still as unwrinkled as it had been a few minutes ago, and picked back up the folder that had dropped to the floor. "I assume that since you're back here you have some information from the address Eddie gave us." Booth groaned inwardly, not wanting to let her know just how much she frustrated him. Well, she always frustrated him, but recently that frustration had actually taken on the undertones that everyone suspected all along. _Fine. But she'd better prepare herself for the next time we're alone._

"Nope, not yet. I'm here because this is the time we scheduled for our weekly meeting with the Baby Einstein." Brennan looked confused. Booth bent his head down, shaking it slowly and staring at her, as if looking for signs of life. "Little doctor Skywalker? Doogie? Come on, Bones. One of these days I am going to make a pop culture reference that you pick up on. I look forward to that day." Brennan's eyebrow was cocked now, though she was picking up her purse, trusting that even if she didn't understand quite what was going on, if he said they had an appointment, they did.

Realizing that was yet another surprise. She didn't take things for granted. She needed proof, she wasn't the sort of person to go along with things that she was unsure of. _I'm also not the kind of person who makes out with her partner in her office in front of her well-intentioned but notoriously gossipy best friend. _She literally could not stop the rush of warmth to her face and to. . . other areas. . . when she thought of that little moment. Totally, completely, and absolutely against the rules. But also totally, completely, and absolutely wonderful. _Apparently, when Booth is involved, I no longer feel that the rules should apply. This does not seem smart._

"Sweets, Bones. It's time for our meeting with Sweets." They were out of her office and headed out of the Jeffersonian now, but when Booth identified their destination, Brennan stopped in her tracks. "We're going to see Dr. Sweets? Now?" She looked, well, frightened. "Yeah, Bones, now. Why?" Booth didn't understand the hesitancy in her voice – if anything, he should be the one concerned. He was, after all, the one fighting off the very physical after-effects of their little exchange. "But Booth, that makes no sense. If you knew we were about to go visit Sweets, why would you come here and. . . I mean, of all times to do something so blatantly dangerous to our partnership. . . It's not rational. After what just happened, don't you think he will pick up on something and we'll end up having to talk about it? Or. . ." She paused a little longer this time, though her speech was already dragging as much as her feet, and she looked at him accusingly, "is that what you want? Do you want to talk to Sweets about what just happened?"

"Dangerous? Talk? Um. Oh, the. . .?" It was Booth's turn to appear flustered and unsure. "No. I mean, I hadn't thought about that. Well, I did on the way over, but not back there." He gestured somewhat wildly back toward the lab. "I mean, I, we, were just caught up in the heat of the moment. It just started as a joke, right? To tease Angela. . ." The minute the words left his mouth he felt a strong desire to bash his head into a wall. _DAMN IT! Don't latch on to that, Bones, please._ Before he could speak, she seemed to turn introspective. "A joke," she said, saying the words slowly, like she was tasting them, seeing how they felt. "The heat of the moment," she nodded her head, "yes, that sounds right. Nothing that Sweets would need to know about. It didn't mean anything." He knew her well enough to recognize the tone that indicated she had reached a conclusion, but he also knew her well enough to hear the tiny twinge of disappointment in her voice.

* * *

Wow. That's all I can say. Thank you so much for the flood of positive comments! A special thanks to TemperTemper for the support and the promotion! And look what happens when I get all that love? I post again almost immediately. Ok, so it's a short one with absolutely no plot progress, and it's a bit of a cliffhanger besides... :) Sorry I'm MIA for a while, I had to scrap my next chapter because it was going to be all about Sweets and his girlfriend, and now I just feel like that would seem cheap (especially since they ended up playing with pottery... I wish I had actual insights, but these are just crazy coincidences!). It's also finals time, so you might have another week or so to wait. Have fun with real new Bones episodes in the meantime!


	9. Makeup, Don't Breakup

_For the love of God, man, cowboy up!_ He knew that if he didn't fix this now, she would stuff this incident back into the shadows with all of the other hundreds of moments they both tried to pretend didn't matter. As they were already in the outer hall, he steered her into an alcove off the museum entrance where they would be out of sight for a moment. "No, Bones. I take back the last minute. Delete it." _Quickly Seel, you're losing your nerve here._ She looked up at him questioningly as he backed her into a literal corner. "It wasn't a joke. I don't know what it meant, but I know it meant something. And as for Sweets, we can control the conversation. We'll figure it out; we just have to act normal when we go in there."

The last part of that sentence had come out hesitatingly, as he realized that he had essentially pushed her up against a wall and was all but whispering into her ear. He looked down into her eyes as their faces remained less than a breath apart. He didn't want this to turn whatever was happening between them into some hormone-driven series of makeout sessions, but it was so hard to resist her. She didn't have to do anything special, didn't have to wear certain clothes or say anything specific – just being near her was enough to put him on edge. As he bent down further, he saw that she closed her eyes. The simple fact that she both anticipated and welcomed his kiss was enough to turn what was going to be a light peck into an unfortunately brief but uncontrollably deep kiss. His mouth still on hers, he put his hands around her waist and pulled her into a full-body hug that she eagerly returned by wrapping her arms around his neck. Their lips broke apart, and they were both blushing and slightly out-of-breath, but they stayed in the hug for a moment.

As they emerged from the little alcove and headed outside, they each regained a little composure and silently shifted gears to get back into crime-solving mode. Brennan couldn't help but grin when she climbed into the passenger seat. Booth's phone rang, which she almost appreciated, because she needed a few seconds of uninterrupted time to work out what the next step should be in trying to solve the mystery of Jeanna's death. She couldn't let herself think about what was going on with Booth right now, because even as fast as her mind worked, she knew she would need to spend a while trying to unravel that little knot of emotion she felt herself pulling at. She knew that she was excited and happy – maybe even a little giddy, but she was also very afraid. _What does this mean for us? What does he expect from me? I wouldn't stand for it if this was going to risk our work partnership. I have never felt as satisfied with my work as I have since we have worked together – I refuse to jeopardize that._ She knew that she had to make sure his priorities were straight. He might really want to try to pursue a romantic. . . thing. . . with her. _And you might really want that also,_ a little voice said, but she knew that first and foremost they had to make sure that anything that happened didn't negatively impact their working relationship. She looked over as he clicked his phone shut.

"That was Charlie," Booth said, pulling her back to the thoughts she had meant to be thinking, "Eddie called my office because he just received a call from the client that Bill was supposed to meet with and Bill never showed up. When he called the hotel that he had reserved for his son's business trip, he found out that Bill didn't check in yesterday. Not enough time has passed to issue a missing persons report, but Eddie can't get ahold of Bill and with our visit this morning, that has him a little freaked out." Brennan nodded her head, "That's understandable. Do you think his disappearance might have anything to do with the resurfacing of the body?" Booth frowned in thought. "Maybe – the media coverage on this has been very light – just a vague description of a dead young woman. Bill or whoever might be involved in his disappearance would have to have personal knowledge that the body had been dumped in this location because no positive identification has been released to the public yet."

"So what should we do – do we need to reschedule our appointment?" Brennan looked almost hopeful at the thought. Booth knew that she was still a little hesitant to see Sweets today, after their. . . encounters and Sweets' self-proclaimed ability to tell when people were lying. "No, Bones, there's nothing to do right this moment. Let's go and get this over with and then we can see about tracking Bill down to find out if he ran or if someone else is involved. My money's on running." Brennan saw an analogy that she could draw to serve her own purposes, and she jumped on it. "You know, your _gut_ reaction to this case was that her boyfriend killed her. You know that when we are dealing with a violent crime, the most likely suspect is the spouse or other significant other. While the majority of domestic relationships don't involve violent crime, the majority of violent crimes involve domestic relationships. Anthropologically, this represents the underlying and undeniable potentiality of violent and otherwise dissatisfactory outbursts between people who spend extensive time together. These outbursts can be brought about by jealousy, power imbalances, reduction in compatibility because of lack of unique stimulation, stagnation of or incompatibility in sexual situations, failure to reproduce. . ." Brennan was on a roll. How could Booth fault this logic?

"Committed relationships, while temporarily satisfying because of the chemical releases associated with homo-sapiens' preparation for and consummation of mating rituals, expose humans to a heightened likelihood of being the victim of a violent attack." Brennan was still on her tirade as they walked in, but the waiting room outside Sweets office wasn't empty. The scheduling was usually done so that they didn't have to wait with anyone, but today there was a woman waiting as well. "Bones, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you are, for once, oversimplifying a very complicated situation. Relationships aren't just for satisfying those biological and anthropological urges. They are about making and maintaining emotional connections too – you know, really connecting with someone else in a way that is unique and special to the two of you." He sat down next to her and almost unconsciously put his hand on her knee. At the sound of two throats being cleared, he quickly diverted his hand to his own leg and looked up at Bones, whose eyebrows were raised despite the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

He looked across to the source of the other voice, and felt for a moment that perhaps the universe was conspiring against him today – first with all of the. . . buildup at the lab, and now with his delightful but highly distracting placement in this office. He was on the couch beside Bones, who still smelled sweet, and now with just a hint of a smell that he associated with himself, and the sides of their thighs were touching and rubbing against each other whenever Bones would cross or uncross her legs. The mystery woman was sitting in a chair across from them, dressed in a figure-fitting suit and low-cut blouse. When she reached down to the coffee table to grab a magazine, her tawny hair fell in front of her, making the line of sight to her cleavage a fleeting one. When he realized he was watching her long enough to take note of this, he quickly turned away, only to have his eyes rest on the smooth skin well above Bones' knee that had become visible when her skirt hitched up the last time she uncrossed her leg. He barely stifled a groan and reached to the side table to grab a magazine to distract himself.

The receptionist slid back the smoked glass partition to address the woman in the waiting room. "He'll be right out, sugar, he got off the conference call and just had to make one more quick call, then he'll have a few minutes before his next appointment." The woman tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. "Thanks, Sue. I didn't mind waiting. Today." Booth noticed with interest that the woman knew Sweets' receptionist well enough to be on a nickname basis. As he considered the implications of this, the kid himself walked into the waiting room, immediately noticing the weighing look on Booth's face. The woman stood up and pulled a tie and a folder full of paperwork from her bag, handing them over to Sweets as the two shared a small smile.

Brennan looked over at Booth with raised eyebrows, and he grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. She frowned in response. As the young doctor escorted the woman that Booth now identified as his latest girlfriend out the door, the partners in the waiting room heard her hushed question. "Oh, Lance. I know you're trying for anonymity, but I've got to know. Was that Lois and Clark?" The partners looked at each other with now matching grins. Brennan nodded her head enthusiastically to indicate that today was, in fact, the day that she understood the reference, as she had made a similar one in the past. They heard Sweets laugh quietly and say, "I will neither confirm nor deny that assumption. But good eye, gorgeous."

As he walked back in, Booth and Brennan stood up to follow him into his office. Booth slapped Sweets lightly on the back as they passed through the doorway. "Way to get back on the horse, man." Brennan sighed softly behind him and rolled her eyes, thinking that this was going to be a long session.

* * *

I would apologize for the delay, but I almost don't think you'd accept it. . . Special thanks to Julie for snapping me back into the story, I hope you like this chapter better! I really have no idea how long this is going to be - I essentially have three plot lines going now, I think maybe I'll just resolve the case and save the real romance & family resolution for a follow-up story. The story's on hiatus for now, but at some point I will update, I swear!


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